Both Bishops, on h2 and g2

The game, move by move

Queen’s Gambit Declined

1. 1. d4 Queen’s pawn
2. 1… d5 The same claim
3. 2. Nf3 Developing
4. 2… c5 c5, at once
5. 3. c4 The Queen’s Gambit
6. 3… e6 e6, declining
7. 4. e3 e3, quietly
8. 4… Nf6 The knight out
9. 5. Bd3 The bishop to d3
10. 5… Nc6 And Black’s knight
11. 6. O-O White castles
12. 6… Bd6 Facing the bishop Both bishops on the b1–h7 diagonal, pointed at each other’s castled king. Only one of them gets there.
13. 7. b3 b3, preparing
14. 7… O-O And Black castles
15. 8. Bb2 The bishop to b2
16. 8… b6 b6, for the diagonal
17. 9. Nbd2 The second knight
18. 9… Bb7 The bishop to b7 The other long diagonal, and it is the one that matters: at the end of the game this bishop takes on g2 and then on f1.
19. 10. Rc1 The rook to c1
20. 10… Qe7 The queen to e7 She is going to h4 and she gets there in one move, which is the whole point of the two bishops.

The centre cleared

1. 11. cxd5 The centre traded
2. 11… exd5 Recaptured
3. 12. Nh4 The knight to h4
4. 12… g6 g6, keeping it out
5. 13. Nhf3 And back to f3
6. 13… Rad8 The rook to d8
7. 14. dxc5 The pawns come off
8. 14… bxc5 Recaptured
9. 15. Bb5 The bishop to b5
10. 15… Ne4 The knight to e4 In the middle of the board and impossible to remove without opening something.
11. 16. Bxc6 The bishops traded
12. 16… Bxc6 Recaptured on c6
13. 17. Qc2 The queen to c2
14. 17… Nxd2 The knights come off
15. 18. Nxd2 Recaptured
16. 18… d4 d4 — the file opens The pawn steps forward and the long diagonal from b7 to g2 opens with it. That diagonal is the second half of the combination.

Both bishops

1. 19. exd4 Taken
2. 19… Bxh2+ The first bishop, on h2 A bishop for a pawn, and the king has to take it — the alternative is being a pawn down with a wrecked position.
3. 20. Kxh2 Taken
4. 20… Qh4+ Check, from h4 The queen arrives on the square the bishop has just opened, in one move, from e7.
5. 21. Kg1 The king back to g1
6. 21… Bxg2 The second bishop, on g2 And this one is not even check. It takes the last pawn in front of the king and stands there; taking it walks into Qg4+, and not taking it loses the rook on f1 as well.
7. 22. f3 f3, declining
8. 22… Rfe8 The rook comes up
9. 23. Ne4 The knight to e4, blocking
10. 23… Qh1+ Check, in the corner
11. 24. Kf2 Kf2
12. 24… Bxf1 The rook, taken The second bishop collects the exchange and the material is level again — two bishops for a rook and two pawns — with White’s king on f2 and nothing in front of him.

The king walked to d7

1. 25. d5 d5, trying to open lines
2. 25… f5 f5, shutting them
3. 26. Qc3 The queen to c3
4. 26… Qg2+ Check, from g2
5. 27. Ke3 Ke3 — into the middle
6. 27… Rxe4+ The rook takes the knight, with check A rook for a knight, to open the e-file and take the last defender away from the squares around the king.
7. 28. fxe4 Taken
8. 28… f4+ A pawn, with check
9. 29. Kxf4 Taken — the king on f4 A king on the fourth rank on move twenty-nine with both his rooks off the board and his queen four squares away.
10. 29… Rf8+ The second rook, with check
11. 30. Ke5 Ke5
12. 30… Qh2+ Check, from h2
13. 31. Ke6 Ke6
14. 31… Re8+ The rook comes back to e8, with check
15. 32. Kd7 Kd7 — the last square
16. 32… Bb5# Checkmate The bishop that took on f1 twenty half-moves ago comes to b5. It covers e8 and c6; the rook on e8 covers e7, d8, e6 and c8; the queen on h2 covers c7 and d6.